Abstract
AbstractAvai'o'vuna Swamp, a small coastal wetland in Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga, produced a 4500-year pollen and sediment record. Results are: (1) a mid-Holocene sea level highstand is confirmed for Tonga between about 4500 and 2600 14C yr B.P.; marine clay contains pollen from mangroves (Rhizophora mangle), coastal forest trees (Barringtonia asiatica and Cocos nucifera), and rainforest trees (Alphitonia, Rhus, Hedycarya and Calophyllum). (2) Microscopic charcoal first appeared at 2600 14C yr B.P., coincident with the arrival of Polynesians. (3) Cocos, Pandanus, Excoecaria, Macaranga, and Elaeocarpaceae pollen reflects the establishment of a mixed coastal-lowland rainforest in the last 2500 years. (4) The loss of Hedycarya, Elaeocarpus, Calophyllum, and Guettarda and the reduction of Terminalia and taxa in the Papilionaceae family by about 1000 years ago may be due to habitat destruction and the loss of dispersal capabilities of some species through the extinction of the two largest pigeons in Tonga.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
General Earth and Planetary Sciences,Earth-Surface Processes,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
Reference55 articles.
1. Holocene fringing reefs and sea-level change in Mangaia Island, Southern Cook Islands
2. The climate and weather of Tonga;Thompson;New Zealand Meteorological Service Miscellaneous Publication,1986
3. Psimpoll 4.10 and Pscomb 1.03 - C programs for plotting pollen diagrams and analysing pollen data;K.D.,1998
4. Flowers of the Pacific Island Seashore : A Guide to the Littoral Plants of Hawai'i, Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Fiji, and Micronesia;Whistler,1992
5. Rain forest vegetation of 'Eua Island, Kingdom of Tonga
Cited by
31 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献